Gender Equality, Youth Empowerment, and Social Inclusion Analysis - Consultancy Service

A. Introduction

JSI is a public health management consulting and research organization that works globally to improve the health and well-being of individuals and communities. Currently, JSI is spearheading the USAID Quality Healthcare Activity as prime within a consortium of other members. USAID Quality Healthcare Activity (QHA) is a five-year USAID funded activity to be implemented in seven regions: Tigray, Amhara, Oromia, Sidama, Central Ethiopia, South Ethiopia, and Southwest Ethiopia national regional States. The ultimate goal is to improve health outcomes and sustain quality improvement efforts.

Along with the effort to make the Activity more gender, youth, and social inclusion (GYSI) responsive, QHA is planning to undertake a GYSI primary analysis in the regions and woredas where the Activity is implemented to increase understanding of the specific gender dynamics, youth, and social inclusiveness that play along the sequence of changes hypothesized in the result. QHA is interested in identifying barriers/obstacles in fostering youth engagement, gender equality and social inclusion in its interventions and sustainable mechanisms to strengthen gender, youth, and social inclusiveness of health systems and structures. QHA has already conducted a desk review to explore and understand existing evidence and knowledge focusing on health systems inclusiveness across the activities result areas using USAIDs gender analysis. The desk review has revealed that there are still knowledge gaps with regards to the health systems response with regards to GYSI that need to be explored further. Therefore, primary assessment became important to fill those gaps and inform the activity to design GYSI responsive strategies.

1. The Purpose of the consultancy Service

The overall objective of the consultancy service is to collect primary data and conduct GYSI analysis, which will support the development of gender, youth engagement, social inclusion integration strategies and strengthen the QHAs effort towards making the program intervention more inclusive.

C. Specific objectives for the primary data collection and analysis

1. To investigate current practices and identify gaps in achieving equity in the quality of healthcare services.

2. To identify differing needs, interests, opportunities, and barriers of women, men, and youth within, all their differences in the health system.

3. Assess the level of inclusiveness regarding gender, youth, and other social identities within leadership structures and community engagement in the health facilities,

4. Explore existing practices and gaps in holding disaggregated data with sex, age, and disability to understand inclusivity.

5. Explore power relations between different community groups in their access to health services and information, priorities, needs, activities, and constraints that they face concerning each other within the scope of ToC.

6. To identify the challenges and opportunities the health system and facilities under post-conflict setting and have in addressing the right to health of vulnerable groups like persons with disabilities, IDPs, etc.

D. Scope of the Service:

The consultancy service includes:

• Review and analyze the facilities data, including demographics, to assess current service utilization pattern, representation, inclusiveness, accessibility and participation rates.
• Conduct key informant interviews and focus group discussions, with relevant groups and stakeholders, including selected facility staff, clients, board members, management and other relevant stakeholders to collect qualitative and quantitative data.
• Transcribe recorded interviews and FGDs into a narrative description
• Analyze transcribed data using any of the well-known qualitative data analysis software such as ATLAS.ti or NVivo or Dedoose or MAXQDA
• Present the findings and the analysis to the organization's management team for feedback and validation.
• Prepare a comprehensive report summarizing the primary data, the findings, and analysis and recommendations, along with practical tools and guidelines for implementation.

The consultant must frequently refer to the QHAs result framework and theory of change(ToC) while planning, primary data collection and throughout the process of the analysis. This ensures the adequacy and relevance of instruments to gather all the necessary information to strengthen gender and youth responsiveness of QHA ToC and operational plan.Data collection covers both public and private health facilities, concerned woreda, regional and federal government stakeholders. The consultant should collect data from the following selected target woredas of QHA.

E. Target Groups

The consultant will be expected to consider women and men from various age groups, social identities, and statuses while sampling respondents and interviewees such as healthcare managers, healthcare service providers, and youth, adolescents, persons with disability men and women clients.

F. Methodology

The study will employ both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods to generate quality primary data using focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and observation. Multiple data collection and analysis tools, instruments, and processes such as record review, utilizing the Social-Ecological Model (SEM) along with USAID's gender analysis frameworks will be used. Rights-based approaches to explore human rights standards and principles in health service delivery - such as participation, resilience, trauma-informed, equality and non-discrimination, and accountability - will be emphasized in the design as critical methodologies to gain a deeper understanding of human rights-based approaches for QHA intervention integration.

It is expected that the Consultant will produce the following deliverables:

a. Inception proposal detailing the methodology and work plan for conducting the gender youth social inclusion analysis.

b. Draft gender youth social inclusion analysis report for review by QHA.

c. Comprehensive Gender and youth Social Inclusion report outlining the findings, opportunities, challenges, recommendations, and action plan for improving gender, youth, and social inclusion consideration for the activity.

d. PowerPoint Slide for dissemination of the final GYSI analysis report findings

e. Interview transcripts, audio recordings, consent forms and other related raw data

Qualifications

The Consultant is expected to have the following skills:

• Proven experience in conducting gender youth and social inclusionanalysis in Ethiopia.

• The consultant should have personnel with relevant education backgrounds; health or social science and humanity background qualifications in sociology, social work, law, and gender and development studies, and proven experience in international and local gender equality, health systems strengthening, youth empowerment, and social inclusion perspectives.

• Multidisciplinary team in development programs - particularly in sectors related to Health specifically RMNCAH, gender, social work, human rights, special needs etc. ..
• Experience in conducting qualitative research under various contexts in Ethiopia
• Aware on child and adolescent safeguarding global code of conducts with certificate
• Background in social determinants of health research and adequate experience in designing, and conducting gender analysis projects.

• Facilitation, coordination, collaboration and participatory engagement methodologies and skills to ensure ownership and engagement of e.g., community groups stakeholders.
• Excellent command of oral and written English skills.